Any Weather Any Time - A-6E

Grumman A-6E "Intruder" documentary/publicity film produced by Grumman and Aerolog approximately mid-70s. Lots of great in-cockpit views and carrier action.

[@OkieRCguy]

Nice to see a blast from the past. I was an aviation ordnance tech win a Marine Corps A-6E squadron from 1975 to 1978. The Intruder is a flying tank, and was loved by aircrews as well as ground personnel. We affectionately referred to it as "The Flying Dumptruck".

[@cavscout62]

Grumman Ironworks Man! I’ve always loved this aircraft, it’s look of a flying teardrop with wings! Awesome aircraft.

[@skiwake38]

When the A-6 showed up there were definitely some teardrops.

[@LesterMoore]

The A6, to me, resembled a parrot with an evil snarl on it's beak.

[@eblgraphics]

Call me crazy but the Intruder is one elegant looking jet...

[@ervillewright6284]

I worked on A6s attached to VA165 and VA95 thru the 80's at Whidbey Is. And at NAF El Centro in the early 90's. Great aircraft. A bitch to work on sometimes, but a real workhorse. Fighter guys make movies, attack guys make history.

[@briannatryon877]

My father was in Vietnam 1965 to 1975... VA-145, VA-165 and was part of Boomers all out of Oak Harbor Washington. Any Chance you would know him? Robert Tryon. My apologies but he passed away when I was 13 years old (after the war)... I never got to ask him many questions about the war.

[@jinxd66]

Awesome airplane. I was with VA-52 Knightriders.

[@braddblk]

'76-'78 We got the E shortly before I got there, we didn't have all the real Navy manuals yet. Good ones from Grumman though.

[@robinblair3703]

They were lovely. I was with VA-42 Green Pawns. AMH2

[@TheDustysix]

I remember in 79/80 some discussions as how accurate the A-6E tram was in radar mode. "They" came up with a test, easy to replicate. A dempsty dumpster was hauled out to a remote spot near Fallon. An A-6E Tram with 18 MK.76 Blue Death bombs was instructed to make multiple pass, single drop, low level high speed attacks at night. From multiple directions. 13 pierced the Dempsty and all others hit within 10M. With Mk. 82's who would care.

[@exposingthedarknesswiththe9190]

THE MIGHTY A-6, A TECHNOLOGICAL LEGEND IN ITS OWN TIME!!!

[@phosgene11]

My entire Naval service was with A-6's , VA-35, '75-'79.Two med cruises on Nimitz. AMS rating, Plane Captain of the Year 1977. I had no intention of working the flight line/flight deck but thats where they assigned me and I never regretted one second! I mean, if you wanted to be where the action was, that was it! Too many memories to follow but these videos bring many of them back to life and am grateful for that. AMS2 "Greasy Bob" Johnson

[@jameseast7966]

WITH EA6S in 1971 on 3 carriers on one cruise way too much time on the most dangerous 3 acres in the world. Again in 86 on the Kennedy as flt deck coodinator. Always ended up on the deck.

[@diegrinder6851]

Ditto, AMS2, ran the line shack, flight deck Ranger & Nimitz, but E-2Cs '88-'92 Loved it!

[@robinblair3703]

AMH A6 VA-42 Thank you for your service.

[@johnfox4193]

Great airplane! Worked on them for 18 years.

[@brandonangelo3719]

john fox why great? What’s unique?

[@martyshepardson1439]

I knew a person in the seat shop by the name of Fox. I joined VMA aw 242 in nov 1964 and was still in A-6's when I retired in 1980. If this was you Semper Fi Marine

[@Spacegoat92]

I'd love an old A-6, just as a private plane to fly.

[@Spacegoat92]

@jack torrence I know right! Or an EA6B Prowler! Then I could take some passengers LoL

[@briannatryon877]

My Father flew these for 10 years in Vietnam. He's gone now but made it back from Vietnam so I enjoy watching these videos. Thank you!

[@mrlodwick]

No, THANK YOUR POP for what he done!. Tim Uk.

[@philipjerominski6974]

I understand flying A-6s for ten years, but 10 years in Vietnam?

[@allgood6760]

Salute and respect to your Dad from NZ 👍🇳🇿

[@allgood6760]

@I Sanchez I don't know what to say.?..can you forgive your dad for his wrong doings? 🤔

[@allgood6760]

@I Sanchez That's no good... I reckon everyone has more than one self, the other is hidden from everyone else... as they say "are you all things to all people"?... take care peace ❤️ from NZ🙂🇳🇿

[@RedArrow73]

I reported to A-37 at NAS Cecil in 1981. Capt. Mandeville was the Station CO before the one on board at the time, Capt. Terrell.

[@ThePlusmusic]

Supported the A-6E and the EA-6B from 1988 to 1995 and even at the end of its lifecycle that was one hell of a bird.

[@sortuhretard7990]

Top gun pilots and fighter jocks are cool and all, but I want to salute all A6 pilots and ground attack pilots for having balls of steel.

[@sk8anddestroy792]

Thank you

[@danieldunlap4077]

@Stimpy&Ren the book is even better

[@ricksadler797]

How about the sky raider ??

[@sortuhretard7990]

@@ricksadler797 I love the Sky Raider to! Great planes!

[@RonN448]

At the 3:45 mark, is an A-6E from my squadron, VA-35 (ATKRON 35), based in Oceana, VA. I served proudly with "35" on both the USS Coral Sea (Viet Nam, 1969-1970, and aboard the USS America (Med. cruise,1971). I worked in AIMD on the APQ-112 Track Radar System. I still feel privileged and proud to have served with such a fine group of officers and men of VA-35 which, at the time, was the Navy's oldest and largest Attack Squadron.

[@dennishayes65]

RonN448 : I was a plane captain in VA-42 from 1973 to Aug 15,1975.

[@pontiacGXPfan]

35 Black Panthers

[@briannatryon877]

​@@dennishayes65 My father was in Vietnam 1965 to 1975... VA-145, VA-165 and was part of Boomers all out of Oak Harbor Washington. Any Chance you would know him? Robert Tryon. My apologies but he passed away when I was 13 years old (after the war)... I never got to ask him many questions about the war.

[@briannatryon877]

My father was in Vietnam 1965 to 1975... VA-145, VA-165 and was part of Boomers all out of Oak Harbor Washington. Any Chance you would know him? Robert Tryon. My apologies but he passed away when I was 13 years old (after the war)... I never got to ask him many questions about the war.

[@jameseast7966]

I was crossdecked from Saratoga to America 1971. No berthing spaces for us Marines so we were spread all over the ship.I was put with Philipeno stewards,they did not like our work hours nor our dirty uniforms hanging on our bunks.

[@1950Viper]

The A6 when I was in Vietnam flew in any weather , high winds , high seas and at night planes drop out of the sky and the pilots has a few seconds to drop on the deck. The planes see the deck about the same time they crash into the deck. Stainless steel balls I admired these guys. Dropping on target was the A6 badge of honor. That amazed me some of the stuff they flew in.

[@anthonyduran7105]

1950Viper m

[@gruffmusic]

Former VMA (AW) 121 Green Knight here. Loved this aircraft.

[@jameseast7966]

225 & 533 avionics (comnav)

[@mmouseav8r402]

My dad was a wrench turner on A-6s with VA-128

[@briannatryon877]

My father was in Vietnam 1965 to 1975... VA-145, VA-165 and was part of Boomers all out of Oak Harbor Washington. Any Chance you would know him? Robert Tryon. My apologies but he passed away when I was 13 years old (after the war)... I never got to ask him many questions about the war.

[@michaelmygas1097]

Intruders Forever !

[@davijoh]

The good old days... when a man could have a cold Schlitz, and there was a cold Schlitz to be had!

[@Starphot]

Thanks! CDR Bill Westerman was my squadron CO! I know the people in the film! The VA Blue Blaster video was probably taken during carrier quals or on the Med cruise 1975. Med cruise '75 was the first appearance of the A-6E. The brightly colored tail insignia decals were gray shadowed at the end of that cruise due to new regs. I worked on the radar systems of the A-6A through to the A-6E. They didn't show the A-6E splash just out of JAX during quals. Pilot forgot to release the brakes!

[@johnb4570]

Intruders and Condor missiles. Brings back memories of China Lake from the early 70s.

[@KristoffRand]

I've never heard about what a great plane the A-6 was... Great watch.

[@Eddie-hv4yq]

I was in an A-6 training squadron (VA-42) from 1987-1990. I was in Aviation Ordnance (AO). We used to load 500 pound bombs on these out in the desert heat of El Centro California. A-6's were the workhorses of the Navy being able to carry 30 x 500 pound bombs per plane.

[@Artessnow]

Nothing quite replaced them. I was an AO with VF-101. Many trips to El Centro. That place was mad boring.

[@ryansta]

Thanks for posting. What a sweet Jet and cutting edge forerunner of what was to come technologywise.

[@gregorybentley5707]

Thank you for uploading and preserving this.

[@geelop5129]

God bless the A-6 Intruder & the pilots who pilot them

[@jameseast7966]

Don't forget the excellent ground crews and maint. Types that kept these very complicated birds GOOD TO GO.

[@kellywilson8440]

I was always in f-18 squadrons but really admired the a-6 being an AO in the US NAVY , That old girl could fly away with a huge ordnance load !

[@allgood6760]

Awesome vid!...thanks🇳🇿👍

[@jamesshaffer3951]

love that they are all hanging out drinking schlitz :)

[@Johnnycdrums]

Before they changed the formula.

[@MegaGman61]

Great video! Thanks for posting it.

[@caffiend.]

Marine officers drinking Schlitz beer during an interview. Ooh Rah! 13:54 .

[@pontiacGXPfan]

Marines doing Marine things

[@nathanpaquette877]

I was an aviation electronics technician for the A6. V A 176 Thunderbolts on the F D R in 1973 and 74 Mediterranean 6th fleet.yom kiper war.

[@9Apilot]

I miss that airplane..

[@Gianlucaaaa]

A-6 is BEASTIN'

[@The.Alabama.Woodsman]

My favorite jet propelled aircraft by far!!!!

[@OkieRCguy]

Semper Fi! I was with VMA (aw) 533. As I remember, you guys were just down the flightline from us at Cherry Point.

[@jameseast7966]

533 on Kennedy 1986 87. Avionics chief/flt deck coord.

[@mherssens]

Dammit, the A6 is sexy. she got character. Just like the A10. one look and you think hell, that one ugly plane and then you see how these plane fly elegant to their target, smile in their face and do their job in any weather and at night. Besides i think the troops on the ground really appreciate these kind of planes. they are the guardian angels of any group in hostile territory.

[@RCAvhstape]

I'll take an ugly plane that can deliver a shit ton of whoopass any day.

[@jameseast7966]

From 1967 to 1987 in various squadrons I never thought of the A-6 as beautiful or ugly, just a great plane to service and I even got to launch and recover on the USS Forrestal in an EA-6A of VMCJ-2 IN 1971. Not many Sgts. get to have that thrill.

[@ironroad18]

OFMG! THEY FREAKING LAUNCHED A BOMB loaded A-6E OFF A FREAKIN SLED ON A MATTED RUNWAY! Golden era of Navy Aviation...

[@jameseast7966]

Its called SATS (SHORT AIRFIELD FOR TACTICAL SUPPORT). We had one at Bogue field N.C.

[@juliansewell4936]

Was AE in VA-95 for two west paks on the Big "E" 80 - 85! Between the A-6E's and the KA-6D's we had - you always had your hands full keeping them flying - But we did and they always flew the mission. Great memories and a great experience!

[@MrSpeartip12]

I was the AE shop supervisor in VA-65 during the Iranian hostage crisis on board the IKE.

[@braddblk]

Good to see something about the Intruder, it's a plane that is forgotten a lot and not much out there. I have found some squadron made videos including the last years of VA-75.

[@thetreblerebel]

Big fan of the A6, and F8 , F7

[@waynedowling6344]

At 7:29, That's VK-11 at Bogue field. I was in VMA(AW) 121 from 1977-1980. This was before May 1977, when we went to MCAS Iwakuni. That plane went with us to Iwakuni and returned to MCAS El Toro in May of 1978.

[@raisingcaine5480]

I reported to 121 in 1979 as a Pilot. Maj. Tom Adams was CO (became a General). We were Marine Attack Squadron of the Year.

[@thomasryan5736]

A great airplane. It had stability and accuracy when on a bombing mission. Was in the fleet when it arrived.

[@willjack6725]

3.06 love it when those Intruders come up on the ramp lift. Goosebumps.

[@goyeabuddy]

we had a couple of A-6 squadrons on the uss coral sea on a west pac, '68-'69.... along with the A-4 phantom's , A-4 Skyhawk's & A-7's for photo recon... anybody ever hear of the 'wild weasels?' look it up, those guys had balls of steel!

[@goyeabuddy]

***** when did your husband serve on the coral sea & what squadron was he with??

[@apocyldoomer]

Good old Schlitz " just a kiss of the hops" classic bad beer hard to find these days..I found a 12 pack of it in Delaware.

[@bmwinoz]

The Intruder pilot you see at approx. 12:47 is retired ADM Joe Prueher, former Ambassador to China (199-2001), U.S. Pacific Command CINC, and A-6 Vietnam War veteran. He earned 2 DFC's and 3 Air Medals. He's a helluva guy, and one helluva naval officer and aviator.

[@snowman374th]

How do we know.......

[@larrypuckett1075]

I worked on the A-6E/KA-6D with VA-176 from 1981-1984. Great airplane for the role it was tasked with, ugly as hell, and at times a royal pain in the ass to work on, but awesome at it's job.

[@dansullivan9127]

***** check out the mcnally barricade catch. I always thought it was the plane captain who woulda been blamed whats your take?

[@jameseast7966]

I never considered it to be an UGLY aircraft. Built the way necessary to do it's mission, drop bad cans of woopass on bad people. Marines in need of air support loved it.

[@sid2112]

Thanks for building the Arsenal of Demovracy, Grumman.

[@patriciakavanaugh5300]

I REALLY miss the Tomcats!

[@godssunsonjbp777sodomitesl5]

Patricia Kavanaugh am u.s navy aviation ordinance man,trained on the f14 twin tail Tommy at n.a.s.mirimar,California. Circa 1982-83. Vf 124.

[@69demille]

Patricia Kavanaugh Have to go to Iran to see a bunch of them. Iranians have managed to keep a number? Of them flying

[@jimweekly5299]

Loved this aircraft. made three mid cruise with VMA(AW)533. While on two of the mid cruise I work on the buddystore (ars). I miss those skypigs. USS Saratoga and USS John f Kennedy. Sgt James W Weekly.

[@jameseast7966]

533 on the Kennedy 1986-7. Of the four carriers I served on that was the best cruise.

[@insomniac3335]

I was a Blue Blaster from 89-92....great aircraft.

[@marksauck8481]

How they landed these big jets at night is incredible and I don't know how those young men did it during the Vietnam war. I was aboard the USS Midway on a 1972-73 cruise when one night an A6 crashed while landing. 9 men were killed that night and I'll never forget it was the worst night of the whole cruise. The co-pilot was lost at sea when he ejected through the planes canopy.

[@ricksadler797]

Awesome aircraft

[@Lex5576]

It looks like some of this footage might've been filmed at Camp Lejeune or New River MCAS. It's interesting to see how far along the Navy and Marine Corps was, even in the 70s. I miss those old paint schemes the Navy and Marines had on their aircraft back in those days too.

[@TheDustysix]

MCALF Bogue Field, N.C. It is east of MCAS Cherry Point. I was in VMA-AW-224 and H&MS-14 at CPNC 77-81'.

[@danieldunlap4077]

As a former corrosion lpo who was responsible for making sure the aircraft were painted, I'm glad I missed it LOL.

[@jameseast7966]

You are correct.I was in 225,spent a few days observing at bogue.

[@65gtotrips]

As a proud American military buff and novice, I’ve always had a bit of a crush on the A-6…I dunno why, but it’s just cool. I think one of the reasons I’m intrigued by it is the uniqueness of the side-by-side configuration of the pilot and weapons officer, a rarity in the history of carrier fighters and bombers.

[@Starphot]

I also have my super 8 films recently digitized. Ialso have a LOT of stills. A lot of aircraft "cats and traps" from the USS John F Kennedy for the Med cruses '73 and '75. The JFK was in drydock in 1974 while my squadron VA-34 transitioned from the A6-A birds to the A-6E birds. This was a quantum leap from peanut vacuum tubes and germanium technology to silicon with small ICs with the first LSI technology. The A birds had drum memory, the E birds had magnetic memory as the Lunar Module did.

[@stephencannon3140]

Interesting fact. The video post shows eight years ago...(2012). The A-6E was decommissioned and or scrapped during the early/mid 90’s. The EA-6B (same platform but four seat Electronic warfare version was retired starting around 2010 ish. Some A-6E models that were shipped to the desert were probably stripped of high value and common use parts (wings, radome, landing gear, engines etc.....to be donated to keep the EA-6B Prowler program alive. During my first cruise we had a “Tiger Cruise”. This allowed family members....(male only at that time). We also had some ordnance that was needed to be transferred to the Carrier that relieved us. Part of it was expiration of service life and part of it was to be transferred. Part of the tiger cruise was a mini air show at sea. All planes except for about 1-2 per squadron were moved forward or the hangar deck and the remaining flight deck area was filled with crew and family members. The demo aircraft were launched and the show began. The A-6E portion of the air show had 1 A-6E as a bomber filled with fi I’ve bomb racks of six 500 lb. GP bombs. The other was a KA-6D ( same platform but dedicated to aerial refueling only. The demo included the bomber version dropping bombs into the sea and the other was the aerial refueling demo. This air show at sea was about 1000-2000 feet abeam the carrier. Great video and even though I never got to work with them I still miss them.

[@TheDustysix]

i served in VMA-AW-224 F/E and MAG-14 MAG-12 paralofts 77-81. great video, 224 are the a-6's with "WK" on the tail. an amazing aircraft, homely looking.

[@LoveMyCountryAussie]

Stay strong US FORCES , thanks mate , from micheal sydney australia

[@jamebrooke894]

Love F-4 , with my ass in the mud great to see it rolling in. But that A-6 NICE!

[@thetreblerebel]

Look at this crazy world at that time...ain't much changed

[@zoperxplex]

The A6 was such a strange looking aircraft. It looked like a 1950's aircraft but it was built in the Sixties and was still in use in the Ninties.

[@fredtedstedman]

I heard that gracefull swept wing was developed into the Tomcat . Profile certainly looks the same ?

[@hoghogwild]

The USMC still uses the 4 crew EA-6B Prowler version, scheduled to be retired this year in 2019. The Intruders were 2nd in bomb capacity only to the B-52, Now that is saying something. It must have been nice for the Bombardier and the Pilot to be able to "fist bump" after laying waste to an enemy position. You're not doing that in a Tomcat lol

[@WagonBurner1868]

this sounds similiar to the fate of , in my opinion one of the greatest planes ever, the A 10.

[@allandavis8201]

If I remember correctly didn’t they make a film about the A-6 going on an unauthorised bombing raid on Hanoi to destroy the SAM sites, I think it was “night of the intruders “ or something like it. I seem to remember it was,as all films are, a bit over the top, but still a good film that was reasonably accurate in the way the aircraft was operated.

[@iamrichrocker]

this isn't a hollyweird movie..these Guys..Pilots/Crews..the best at what they do...

[@allandavis8201]

That word “reliability” kept popping up and I totally agree, the more technological advances we have, reliability and maintainability are pushed to the limit. I spent 24 years maintaining aircraft from humble trainers to the most modern aircraft, and believe me when I say that the old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) should be applied to all aircraft designs, and reliability and maintainability should be given as much consideration during development as evert other aspect of design. The more complex a machine is the more that can go wrong, perhaps the Russian approach of building aircraft that look and fly like tractors, without fly by wire and super computers could have its benefits.

[@jamesweldon9726]

I have read about Charlie Carr. He was an A-6 Bombardeer/Navigator who was part of the Haiphong mining operation.

[@raisingcaine5480]

Col. Carr passed in 2018.

[@jamesweldon9726]

R. I.P. Colonel

[@10WARTHOG]

My fav navy plane. Cool bomber

[@thewatcher3698]

i dont know why? but i like bomber planes than fighter jets, speacially aircraft for close air support that can fly low and slow... they said the a6 was an ugly bird but for me, it was a beautiful and dependable aircraft and most of all, cas aircraft save more lives than fighter planes....too bad they retire the a6.

[@ProBroDougB]

Pharewell old Phriend.

[@williamarden5441]

Crazy how VA 34 is now VFA 34. They just transitioned From the Legacy Hornets to the super Hornets Blue blasters haha

[@OkieRCguy]

That's an EA-6B Prowler, a 4 seat, ECM version of the A-6.

[@mebeasensei]

What a beauty! It carried 8000 kgs! I bet this helped our 7 million tons of bombs - including our 388,000 tons of napalm - land on Vietnam.

[@Artessnow]

The F-105 pulled most of the weight during Vietnam

[@sk8anddestroy792]

The A6 is worth it's salt

[@georgelinton5432]

At the 11:00 mark they talk about attack altitudes and the number of passes over a target. I seen Pappy Boyington interviewed once about the show Black Sheep Squadron and how accurate it was. Boyington said the show was fairly accurate except for bombing and strafing runs where he stated, they came in FAST, HIGH and ONE TIME over a target.

[@Darthbelal]

I'm not sure it was such a good idea to retire and replace the A-6 with the F/A-18. I think it had to do more with budget cuts and Top Brass fascination with the new and glittery rather than the capability of the Intruder.....

[@jasonharding96]

STAY AWAY FROM THE INTAKES IT WILL EAT YOU

[@jacknapier5666]

17:58: It's LCdr Virgil Cole!

[@valdez57700]

Absolutely, he really looks like him ! 17:58 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnOxm4p6oLOVo9U

[@RCAvhstape]

Badass. And am I the only one who thinks the colorful 70s paint jobs were cool?

[@valdez57700]

no you're not :)

[@garycleveland6410]

The A-6 Intruder was essentially a mini B-52.

[@barrygoldwater2441]

I flew these in World War 2. Very advanced for the time.

[@darrelmartin8261]

Never could believe how loud these planes are

[@Artessnow]

Never heard an A-6 but the EA-6B had to be the loudest aircraft on the flight deck. That thing was insane loud!

[@user-nu8ug6iz2b]

Грамотный был бомбёр во всех отношениях!@!!

[@brushless55]

Love to build an rc version!

[@dansullivan9127]

im gonna go drink a shlitz tallboy for all my shipmates now!!!!

[@Darren4352]

This is truly the best all weather attack aircraft of all time. That's speaking of dropping iron. If you're talking about something with a gun and all weather capability an A-10, A-4 and A-7 would all be sharing the same stable. After it's teething troubles the F-111 became a viable choice.

[@dansullivan9127]

the a6 was a tough plane yea it was probably issued with the forrestal class, and rebuilt inside over and over again, but i liked it, second only to the f14s in the birds on the deck,IM including points for the prowler version which is another reason the nav kept it around so long since both birds could swap parts. two a4s for a a6? i think not.

[@Audfile]

If i had a choice between flying an f18 or an A6 I'd take the 6.

[@chloehennessey6813]

Fairchild, Please make some new A-10s and give them to the Marines. The only thing you’d have to change is the paint. Do it in Crayon and I guarantee Marines will buy it.

[@Artessnow]

I don’t think Fairchild will answer. They went out of business in 2003.

[@garyroberts5745]

VMAT-202 72-75 birdcage hot grips were noise and heat.

[@jameseast7966]

After returning fram westpac in 1970, I was assigned to 202. After 4 months I was ordered to a meeting at the white elephant. I saw many of the same Marines I had served with in Vietnam. " You are the best in the A-6 community, and you are going to be the first Marines to serve on an aircraft carrier" But we just got home we said.Doesn't matter we were told. You are now a part of VMCJ-2 Det- Alpha, on USS Forrestal. Sooo we went.

[@katey1dog]

DC-3s outfitted with Gatling Guns had their place? THEY WERE THE PLACE. Giving birth to the GUNSHIP loitering over an AO gave fire support to the friendlies and HELL ON EARTH to the enemy. Something the A-6 can't do.

[@katatsumori78]

My favourite part is when we see the tomcat at 12:09.

[@a4skyhawkdriver]

As much as I loved flying the Skyhawk, the Intruder did some things FAR better than what we could do in the Scooter. For the Navy to replace the A-6s with F-18's is just plain stupid. The Hornets can't cary as much ordinance nor be as effective for CAS. The Navy, like the Air Force both would rather leave close air support out of their responsibility because it's just not a sexy mission. A-10's, A-6s, A-4s and even the old A-1s were ALL excellent at CAS...

[@kblackav8or]

It is a war on blunt nosed airplanes. I think if the A-6F had been fielded we would just now be retiring them, not 18 years ago with the A-6E. I am not a fan of a single platform air wing. We can still use S-3's and A-6 like aircraft. Long legs, long loiter, high ordnance capacity. All versions of the F-18 fall short on this. We haven't shot down an airplane in a decade but bombs and ground attack ordnance is used all the time. I think we don't realize how much we miss both of them. The S-3 for it's ASW capability and longer range SSC capability. All that old middle zone ASW is just gone.

[@adznz11]

@@kblackav8or I agree. Defense spenders allway's seem to get a boner for multirole aircraft. They figure saving's. But i think in a truly competitive symetrical situation you still need dedicated fighters and attack aircraft. The guy just said it in this. Whats good for one is not good for the other. CAS is very specialized and important to the guy's on the ground. Ideally what you want is long loiter time,Accuracy and Range. Fighters need to straight out perform the other fighters. As much as t hey keep saying dog fighting is dead it never is. when it comes down to it you need to out maneuver our out run your enemy. These separate quality's do not merge well in an aerodynamic sense. That is why they need to bring back specialized attack and fighter aircraft. Multirole is fine or asymmetrical warfare but the moment you get into a symmetrical war you are going to get wiped.

[@RCAvhstape]

The A-12 was supposed to replace the A-6 but when it got canceled they never found the money for a proper replacement. Along came the F-35 and its cost overruns, and now the A-6, F-14, EA-6B, S-3 are all gone, and the Super Hornet has to do it all until things improve moneywise. At least the Marines got to keep their Harriers for now.

[@TheDustysix]

6:00 is telling. My last deployment 1980.

[@chrisparker2118]

The A6 is ugly? I never got that memo...

[@sallyweaver4149]

Va 165 Boomers 67/68 Uss Ranger

[@stephenobrien1505]

Sally Weaver I was a Boomer from '79 to '81. 2 WestPacs aboard USS Constellation (CV-64) as an element of CVW-9.

[@briannatryon877]

My father was in Vietnam 1965 to 1975... VA-145, VA-165 and was part of Boomers all out of Oak Harbor Washington. Any Chance you would know him? Robert Tryon. My apologies but he passed away when I was 13 years old (after the war)... I never got to ask him many questions about the war.

[@AndyNZ1983]

Yeh the Luftwaffe really paved the way for smart weapons back in the early 1940s...terrifying to think what they were capable of back then...